To boost the chances of FUNAAB students scaling through post-graduation job placements, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Oluyemisi Eromosele, has urged students to acquire fundamental skills and experiences that are relevant to their courses of study during their internship programmes.
Professor Eromosele, who is the Chairperson, Committee on Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), stated that SIWES was part of the approved Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) for approved undergraduate degree programmes in Nigerian universities, aimed at developing participants’ occupational competence as well as prepare them for post-graduation real-work situation. Represented by the Director, SIWES, Professor Grace Sokoya, the DVC (Academic), disclosed this at the orientation programme held for non-agricultural students, who are bid to proceed on Industrial Training (IT) programme for the 2016/2017 Academic Session.
She said that part of the mandates of the scheme was to provide the students with an opportunity to apply acquired theoretical knowledge in real-work situations, thereby bridging the gap between knowledge and practice, noting that the training would expose the students to work methods and techniques of handling diverse equipment and machinery. According to her, the orientation programme was organised by the Directorate of SIWES, which was established to serve as the link between the University; the National Universities Commission (NUC); the SIWES Division of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF); industries; and the trainees; to further build the students’ capacities and enable them to cope with challenges that might likely confront them in their various training locations.
The Director of SIWES, Professor Sokoya, charged the students to be good ambassadors of the University, adding that they should give the training the best they could offer. She stressed that the students should exploit the opportunity to bridge the existing gap between the theoretical knowledge, they had already acquired in the classrooms, and the actual practice in the industrial sector. She, however, admonished them to be obedient to constituted authorities, adding that they should be regular and punctual at their places of assignments as well as partake actively in the training exercises. According to her, SIWES carries 16 units, which runs for six months and at the end of the their various internships and after verification of the students’ logbook and accompanying forms, the Federal Government, through ITF, would pay the students N15,000, as training allowance.
The Dean, College of Environmental Resources Management (COLERM), Professor Clement Adeofun, on his part, said that the College had always been receiving letters of commendation on the performance of its SIWES students from years past, while advising the current set of students to get involved maximally in the activities they would be exposed to at their places of assignments. Represented by the Deputy Dean, Dr. Abdul-Lateef Shotuyo, she tasked them on punctuality and humility. “To get the best of your industrial training, be very humble. It is the trick and whatever training you receive during the programme would come handy, years later,” he noted.
The Dean, College of Food Science and Human Ecology (COLFHEC), Professor Lateef Sanni, congratulated the students for the opportunity and tasked them on the relevant soft skills which, according to him, include time management, human relations, critical thinking, effective communication as well as quality and quantity reporting. According to him, “What we are doing is to ‘sell’ you where you are going through your ability to enhance soft skills. Industries are looking for assertive, critical thinker, team players and good time manager”. Similarly, the Dean, College of Biosciences (COLBIOS), Professor David Agboola as well as the Dean, College of Engineering (COLENG), Professor Johnson Adewumi, who was represented by the Deputy Dean, Dr. Adebola Adekunle, briefed the students about their respective colleges, on what was expected of them during the IT period and how to fill their logbooks with the accompanying forms.